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Guest Post: Search Engine Optimization Update

SEO is like magic to me; better get a crystal ball to figure it out! Carolyn has come back to guest post about Google’s newest SEO update. Check back next Tuesday for Part 2!

Not only do we have to stay on top of our Marketing efforts, but our mediums have to stay on top as well to ensure they are delivering a marketing medium that both marketers and consumers will use.

In order to stay ahead of marketing industry behavior, Google is constantly changing their search engine algorithm. This algorithm is the equation the search engine uses to find quality sites when you enter a key word or phrase into Google’s search field.

Over the years, Google has continued to expand this equation and their latest expansion, announced February of this year, is to include a website ranking. In other words, of the hundreds of thousands of websites, where does yours rank in comparison?

Unfortunately, we do not know Google’s exact algorithm for the website ranking, but they have given us some clues …

Google’s goal here is to avoid sending searchers to “content farms.” Content farms are defined by Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s Webspam team, as “sites that consist primarily of spammy or low-quality content.” This obviously does not apply to you or to me – we are all simply trying to market our brand/product/service, which we each believe is of value. We’re not spam. But since it is Google’s technology searching based on the algorithm itself, we need to ensure Google “sees” my and your website as high-quality.

Google defines high-quality sites as those with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on. (Note: This is the key takeaway here).

So start by expanding your original content (I suggest case studies, whitepapers or in-depth reports on specific topics – usually available for download, videos, etc) and in later posts, we’ll discuss some of the other variables in Google’s algorithm to increase your chances of searchers finding you organically (ie, without you purchasing search engine key words/phrases).

Now, you may wonder why I’m focusing on Google, when there are at least 5 search engines you could spout off without even thinking. According to comScore’s Explicit Core Search Share Report, Google is the most used search engine, by a landslide. See for yourselves: